Screen for welders, grinders, or furnacemen



Aprfl 25, 1 950 5, FITCH 2,505,640

SCREEN FOR WELDERS, GRINDERS, 0R FURNACEMEN Filed Sept. 9, 1947 Patented Apr. 25, 1950 SCREEN FOR WELDERS, GRINDERS, R FURNAGEMEN Stanley l it'ch, Woodford "Green, England assignor' to Asea Electric Limited, London, Eng land, a company or Great Britain Application September 9, 1947, Serial No. 772,982 In Great Britain September 27, 1946 3 Claims.

This invention relates to screens to be worn by welders, grinders, furnacemen, or other operatives.

In the specification of our British Patent No.- 558,577 we have described a welding screen in the form of a helmet consisting of a hood shaped so as partially to enclose the wearers face and head. This helmet was adapted, in use, to be supported by the wearers head by means of a support comprising a head-band and a pair of overlapping cross straps, the head band being attached to opposite points on the inside of the hood by swivelling supports.

It has been found that many wearers, particularly women, object to using a device which required to be supported by the head Whilst others are unable or unwilling to wear anything which partially encloses the face. A further disadvantage to the helmet type of screen is that it produces a feeling of stufiiness in that the wearers breath, in its escape, is constrained to flow back over the wearers face, and also during long welding operations heated air is trapped behind the screen, further adding to the discomfort of the operator, whereas for comfort it is essen' tial that fresh air shall be enabled to have free access to the space between the wearers face and the opposing inside surface of the screen. In addition to the above disadvantages the wearing of either a helmet of the above type or the conventional goggles entails added discomfort to operators who also require to wear spectacles.

The object of the present invention is to over come the objections to the hood type of screen or goggles and to provide a screen, which, in wear, is not supported by the Wearers head and which permits fresh air to flow freely between the screen and the wearers face.

A screen according to the present invention comprises broadly a protective member in the form of a shield which in use is supported by means fitting on the body of the user.

According to one embodiment of the present invention the shield is supported on a harness aiiixed to the body of the wearer means being provided on both said harness and the shield whereby the shield is detachably engageable' with the harness so as to be supported thereby in a position to protect the face of the wearer.

Preferably the shield is mounted on the supporting means so as to be adjustable vertically and is also pivotally mounted so that the same may be moved towards or away from the face of the user; or if desired turned through approximately 180 to an out of use position.

In order that the invention may be clearly um derstood and carried into effect one practical example of the same will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a view in perspective of the screen showing the shield and supporting means in position on the body of the wearer.

Fig. 2 is a rear view of the shield also in perspective showing one example of adjustable mounting for the shield. v

Fig. 3 is a detail View showing in perspective the means for locking the shield in the adjusted positions.

Referring to the drawing the screen comprises a protective member in the form of a shield which is supported on a harness affixed around the body of the wearer, means being provided on both the harness and the shield whereby the shield is detachably engageable with the harness so as to be supported thereby in a position to protect the face of the wearer said shield being both angularly adjustable towards and away from the face of the wearer, and vertically adjustable. I

The shield part of the screen consists of a flatsheet l of rigid materialha'ving its upper edge and sides 2 bent backwards in the form of curves of comparatively large radius.

The harness for supporting the shield on the wearer comprises a belt portion 3 to be mixed. around the we-arers body and two shoulder straps which cross over at the back'in X formation said straps being stitched together at the point of cross over.

The straps l are adjustable in length so that they may be set to suit the requirement of the wearer and for this purpose the front and rear ends of each strap are threaded through adjusting buckles 5 and B respectively which are car ried by the belt portion 3 of the harness.

Each of the rear buckles 5 is secured to the rear of the belt portion 3 as shown at '1 Whilst each front buckle b is carried by one end of a short length of webbing or like materialil each forming a loop around the belt so that the straps can be ad usted laterally tosuit wearers of dif-' ferent widths.

The shield is mounted on the harness so as to be adjustably vertically and is also pivotally mounted so that the same may be moved towards or away from the face of the user, or, if desired, turned through approximately to an "out of use position.

The vertical adjustment is obtained by providing a pair of sliders 9 which are mounted one on each strap 4 of the harness, said sliders consisting of light metal pressings I having upper and lower slots through which the associated strap is threaded so that the sliders can be adjusted vertically.

Preferably, and as shown in the drawing, each slider is mounted on a pad I I, such pads serving, when the harness is adjusted and the shield in position, to support the sliders in correct relationship to the body of the user and to prevent sagging or pulling of the straps. The pads I I also form a means of protecting the wearers clothing from being chafed or rubbed by the metal sliders.

The shield is supported on the sliders by the engagement of a pair of pins I2 in holes, not shown, provided in each slider, and as shown in Fig. 2 the pins are arranged one on either side of the rear face of the shield.

Each pin is secured to the outer end ofa short arm I3 the inner end of each of said arms being mounted so as to pivot laterally on the opposite extremities of a rod id mounted adjacent to and parallel with the lower edge of the shield, said pivotal movement permitting the lateral spacing of the pins to be varied to suit the lateral spacing of the sliders.

The rod I4 forms a pivotal mounting for the shield about which it is turned towards or away from the face of the user or about which it may be turned through approximately 180 to the out of use position.

For the above purpose the lower edge of the inner surface of the shield I is provided with three bearings 55 which are secured in position by screws I6 passing through the shield and into the bearings, with rod I4 passing through said bearings. The arrangement is such that when in position on the harness the shield may be turned about rod I4 to adjust its angular position as desired and it is maintained in the adjusted position by locking means, either frictional or positive, and Fig. 3 shows one simple form of positive lock for this purpose.

In the means shown in this figure the centre bearing is provided with a tapped hole ii for the reception of a locking screw IS, the inner end of which engages the rod It, when the locking screw is tightened up, to clamp the shield in the adjusted position, the outer end of the locking screw passing through the thickness of the shield and said outer end being provided with a knurled knob I9 for ease of operation.

With this arrangement the angular adjustment of the shield can be controlled to very fine limits and, further, said adjustments are made simply and without any pulling on, or disarranging of, the straps of the harness.

The screen shown in the drawing has been designed particularly'for use by welders, or furnacemen or similar operators where it is essential to protect the eyes and face of the wearer from the glare and sparks and therefore for this purpose the shield is of fibre or other opaque material and is provided, on its vertical centre line, and level with the wearers eyes, a cut out or opening over the front of which is affixed a frame 2I adapted slidably to receive a composite glass plate comprising upper and lower coloured lass panels 22, 23 of different opacities glued or otherwise affixed to the surface of a plate of clear glass. On this frame may be mounted a glare shield 24 such as is shown in the drawings forming part of the specification of British Patent No. 558,577.

If, however, the screen is used by operators of paint spraying apparatus or similar operations the shield I may be made of transparent material to give the operator an unrestricted view of the work.

I claim:

1. A screen of the type described for welders, grinders and like operators comprising in combination a body harness consisting of a belt portion for fitting around the waist of the user and a, brace portion comprising straps which are adapted to pass over the wearers shoulders and which are adjustably attached at their opposite ends to the front and rear portions of the belt,

a slide member mounted on each brace strap so as to be vertically adjustable up and down the front run of each said strap, a shield having means for mounting the same detachably on the sliders, and a pivotal mounting arranged adjacent the lower edge of the shield and about which the shield is angularly adjustable.

2. A screen according to claim 1, wherein the shield is pivotally mounted on a rod carried by bearings secured to the shield, the rod being positioned adjacent to and parallel with the lower edge of the shield, said rod being provided at either end with an arm, the opposite or free end of each of which is provided with a pin for slidable engagement with a hole in the slider, the arms being mounted on the rod so that the same are capable of lateral adjustment to permit the lateral spacing of the pins to be varied.

3. A screen according to claim 1, wherein the shield is pivotally mounted on a rod carried by bearings secured to the shield, the rod being positioned adjacent to and parallel with the lower edge of the shield, said rod being provided at either end with an arm, the opposite or free end of each of which is provided with a pin for siidable engagement with a hole in the slider, the arms REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,255,249 Wade et al Feb. 5, 1918 1,494,183 Ohman May 13, 1924 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 533,714 Germany Sept. 19, 1931 

